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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27986292">Chipped Nail Polish and a Barbed Wire Dress</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsYourNameMan/pseuds/WhatsYourNameMan'>WhatsYourNameMan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>It’s not Sunset Cis either [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Carlos is a good brother, Gen, Julie is a good sister, My trans take on the Julie-paints-Reggie’s-nails fic, None of the Phantoms are cis and I think that’s beautiful, Reggie loves his siblings, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, also Reggie and Carlos play baseball together bc they’re BROTHERS and they LOVE EACH OTHER, mentions of dysphoria, mentions of transphobia, trans!Reggie, trans!alex, trans!luke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:35:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,680</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27986292</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsYourNameMan/pseuds/WhatsYourNameMan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, black nail polish and eyeliner were part of Reggie’s everyday look. 25 years later, the Molina siblings help him earn back the confidence to wear it again.</p><p>Rated T for language.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex &amp; Julie Molina &amp; Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie, Carlos Molina &amp; Reggie Peters, Julie Molina &amp; Reggie Peters, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson (minor)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>It’s not Sunset Cis either [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022667</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>346</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. No More Troubled Sleep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Y’know that feel when you’re a trans guy and have Sensory Issues so you Cannot Function without painted nails but you also Cannot paint your nails bc Certain Cis People won’t take you seriously. Haha yeah I wrote a fic about that. This is called coping, friends. </p><p>Title and chapter names from “FUCKMYLIFE666” by Against Me!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Julie!” Reggie pops into the middle of Julie’s bedroom, making her nearly knock over the open bottle of nail polish next to her. </p><p>“Reggie,” Julie yelps, “I told you to knock!”</p><p>“Right, sorry.” Reggie disappears, and a moment later there’s a knock on her door. </p><p>“Come in,” Julie sighs.</p><p>Reggie walks through the door and flops down on her bed. Julie grabs the nail polish bottle just in time to save it from splattering on Reggie’s flannel. </p><p>“Hi,” Reggie grins up at her. </p><p>Julie can’t help but return his infectious smile. “What’s up?”</p><p>“The guys and I are going to the shelter to look at puppies. Do you want to come?” </p><p>“Right now?” Julie asks. She gestures to her half-painted hands. “I kind of have to finish this.” </p><p>“We can wait, but not too long. We’re talking about puppies here, Jules. The situation is dire.” </p><p>Julie giggles and finishes her right hand. “Alright, tell the guys to wait for me.” </p><p>Reggie waves a hand dismissively. “I’ll just hang here with you ‘til you’re done. They won’t go without me.” </p><p>“Okay,” Julie says. She puts the cap on the blue polish. “Can you hand me the pink?” </p><p>Reggie nods and leaps up to open her nail polish drawer. He takes a moment to study her vast array of colors. It must have taken her years to build a collection this big. Something pings near where Reggie’s heart used to be. He thinks of the single bottle of cheap black nail polish he nicked from a gas station when he was 14. How pleased his mom was when she spotted him wearing it for the first time. How he smashed it after she told him he’d always be her daughter, never her son. </p><p>“You okay Reg?” Julie asks, startling him from his thoughts. </p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Just trying to find the pink.” He sends her a quick smile over his shoulder. </p><p>“Should be in the top right.”</p><p>She’s right. He grabs the bottle and tosses it to her before laying back on the bed, gentler this time. </p><p>“You sure you’re okay?” Julie unscrews the bottle and sets to work, trying not to come off as prying. She’s learned that Reggie always wants to make others happy before himself, so if she sounds like she’s pressuring him for an answer, he might tell her something he’s not ready to. She wants him to go at his own pace. </p><p>Reggie hums noncommittally. He turns onto his side so he can watch Julie work. They sit in silence for a few minutes, Reggie’s wide blue eyes transfixed on Julie’s hands. </p><p>When Reggie finally speaks, it’s so soft Julie has to lean in to hear him. “I like having painted nails,” he whispers, like it’s his greatest shame. </p><p>“Do you want me to paint yours?” Julie asks. </p><p>Reggie shakes his head. “I can’t.” </p><p>“Why not?” Julie asks. “Guys can wear nail polish.” </p><p>Reggie squeezes his eyes shut. “I know. But not guys like me.” </p><p>Julie frowns. “Because you’re trans?” </p><p>Reggie nods, curling his fingers into the sleeves of his flannel. “I used to always have black nails,” he admits. “And eyeliner, too.”</p><p>Julie gasps. “You’d look so good in eyeliner.”</p><p>Reggie smiles in spite of himself. “I know. I loved it. It made me feel so powerful.” His smile falls. “But after I came out, no one took me seriously until I stopped wearing it.” </p><p>“That’s bullshit,” Julie says, and Reggie looks up at her with wide eyes. She’s usually the one with the cleanest mouth. “There’s no difference between a cis guy wearing nail polish and you doing it. You’re both just guys in makeup, and guys can wear whatever they want.” </p><p>“Yeah, but other guys don’t look like girls when they do it.”</p><p>Julie reaches over and squeezes his hand, careful not to smudge her nails. “You don’t look like a girl, Reg.” </p><p>Reggie scoffs, but Julie cuts him off before he can argue. </p><p>“I’m not just saying that. But even if you didn’t pass, that shouldn’t stop you from doing something that makes you feel good.” </p><p>“I guess.” Reggie doesn’t meet her eyes. </p><p>Julie crosses to her polish drawer and pulls out her best bottle of black. </p><p>Reggie sits up, eyeing her cautiously. “What are you doing?” </p><p>“Please let me paint your nails,” Julie says. “You can take it off before we leave.”</p><p>Reggie hesitates. </p><p>“If you really don’t want to, I’ll back off,” Julie promises, “but only if <i>you</i> don’t want to do it, not if you think you’re not supposed to.” </p><p>Reggie squirms and fidgets with his flannel. Finally, he nods. Julie grins and sits down in front of him. He shifts so his hands are in her lap. </p><p>As she starts to work, she notices that Reggie is avoiding her eyes, so she talks to put him at ease. </p><p>“Who’s idea was the shelter?” </p><p>“Luke said he’d take me if I stopped putting ‘Home is Where My Horse Is’ in his journal.” </p><p>Julie tsks. “He should give your music a chance.”</p><p>Reggie smirks. “Yeah, but he should also realize this has been my plan all along.”</p><p>Julie laughs. “Diabolical”</p><p>“He’s worryingly easy to manipulate.”</p><p>“I think it’s just that he’d do literally anything for you and Alex.”</p><p>“Except play country music, apparently,” Reggie jokes. </p><p>Julie chuckles as she finishes Reggie’s left hand. She’s about to start on the right when Luke and Alex suddenly appear in front of them. Reggie yanks his hands away and puts them behind his back. </p><p>“Are you guys coming or not?” Luke asks, at the same time Julie yells, “Boundaries!”</p><p>“We’ve been waiting so long,” Luke whines, but he stops himself when Alex elbows him and nods at Reggie. Luke finally takes notice of how Reggie’s hiding his hands and avoiding their eyes. Luke’s eyes flick over to the bottle of black nail polish in Julie’s pink and blue hands. The pieces click together in his head and a smile spreads across his face. </p><p>“Finally, Reg,” he says. “I was worried you’d never paint your nails again.” </p><p>Reggie looks up at him with a frown. “You were?” </p><p>“You wore it every day for like, three years. That’s not something you just stop.”</p><p>Reggie slowly pulls his hands out from behind his back, and Julie gets back to work.  </p><p>“Wow,” Alex says, stepping forward to get a closer look. “Julie’s way better at that than you ever were.”</p><p>“Fuck off,” Reggie says, but there’s laughter behind it.</p><p>“Does this mean the eyeliner’s coming back too?” Luke asks. He turns to Julie. “Girls were lining up down the block just to look at Reggie’s eyes.” </p><p>“They were not,” Reggie insists. He ducks his head. “But maybe.” </p><p>“Then this is a totally valid reason to make us late to the shelter,” Alex says with a nod. He drops into Julie’s desk chair and Luke settles on the floor. </p><p>“Do you think Ray would let us adopt a puppy?” Reggie asks. </p><p>Julie snorts. “I think we already adopted three stray puppies named Alex, Luke, and Reggie.”</p><p>Alex and Luke let out offended whines, but Reggie’s eyes go wide. “Oh my god, you’re right.” </p><p>“I’m not a puppy,” Luke grumbles. </p><p>“You’re definitely a puppy,” Alex says. He ruffles Luke’s hair, and Luke swats his hands away. </p><p>“Done,” Julie says, capping the nail polish. “How does it feel?” </p><p>Reggie looks down at his hands, and can’t help the smile that creeps onto his face. “Really good.”</p><p>Julie smiles back. “Do you want to take it off before we go?” </p><p>“Why would you do that?” Luke asks, sitting up with a frown. </p><p>Reggie shrugs. “Isn’t it... girly?”</p><p>“Nah, bro,” Luke says. “It’s badass. Fuck gender.”</p><p>“Fuck gender,” Alex and Reggie echo back on instinct, high fiving when they realize they’ve spoken in unison. </p><p>Julie looks between them with a raised eyebrow. “Y’all are terrifying.”</p><p>Reggie looks back down at his nails. “I’ll guess I’ll keep it on for now.”</p><p>Alex leaps to his feet. “Then let’s get going. We’ve got puppies to play with.” </p><p>The three boys poof out of the room, before reappearing a moment later with sheepish grins. </p><p>“Sorry,” Luke says, “we forgot you can’t do that.”</p><p>“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Julie says, then leads her puppies out of the room.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Stay tuned for Reggie-Carlos bonding.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. There’s a Brave New World That’s Raging Inside of Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Carlos convinces Reggie to play a pickup game with him, and he does not expect Carlos’s teammates to be so cool.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have this headcanon that out of all the sunset curve boys Reggie and Bobby were the athletes, but Reggie quit around the time he came out/they started getting serious about the band.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It takes a few weeks, but Reggie slowly grows back into his black nails. Eventually, the eyeliner makes a comeback as well, and Julie watches as a Reggie that’s been lurking under the surface comes out in full force. He’s always been confident, but now the swagger rolls off him. Luke was right; when Reggie starts wearing his look to concerts, girls—and guys—line up down the block for post-show meet and greets, screaming his name when he walks out. </p><p>There’s only one time Reggie takes it all off: Sunday mornings. He says it’s so Julie can repaint his nails for him that night after she finishes homework, but she notices that he always makes a point to take it off before he goes to Carlos’s baseball games. </p><p>“Hey Reg?” she says one Sunday night while she’s redoing his nails. “Why don’t you ever wear your makeup to Carlos’s games?” </p><p>Reggie’s face falters for a split second, but he quickly gives her that easy smile of his. “So that we can do this,” he says. “I love our brother-sister makeovers.” </p><p>“Me too,” Julie says, “but I can take the old polish off for you. And that doesn’t explain the eyeliner, either.” </p><p>Reggie sighs and lets his smile fall. “I don’t want to embarrass Carlos.” </p><p>“Are you kidding?” Julie asks. “Carlos thinks you’re, like, the coolest person ever. It drives Tía crazy.”</p><p>Reggie laughs. “I know. But I don’t know about his teammates. Teenage boys can be cruel.” He winces at the echoes of words thrown at him at the past. “I don’t want him to get made fun of because of me.” </p><p>Julie squeezes his hand, careful to avoid his wet nails. “Well, I know most of Carlos’s teammates, and they’re the sweetest kids I know. I don’t think they’d care.”</p><p>Reggie studies her eyes for any trace of insincerity, but as usual, Julie’s incapable of that. “I’ll think about it,” Reggie says. </p><p>Julie nods, satisfied, and gets back to work on his nails. </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>The decision ends up being made for Reggie. It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon, and since all his friends are on dates with each other, he’s outside the garage taking shots at the old basketball hoop. He’s borrowed some of Alex’s more athletic dance clothes, including his biggest hoodie to hide the fact that he’s not binding. His nails are starting to chip from a week of playing bass, and his eyeliner is leftover from last night because he hadn’t bothered to wash it off after their gig last night. </p><p>Carlos comes running down the path to the garage just as Reggie sinks a shot. </p><p>“Reggie, thank god you’re here,” Carlos says, coming to a halt and doubling over to catch his breath. </p><p>“What’s up, little dude?” Reggie asks, grabbing the basketball as it bounces back to him. </p><p>“Me and my teammates are playing a pickup game at the sandlot and we need a ninth player,” Carlos says. “Will you come play with us?” </p><p>Reggie hesitates. He’s thrilled Carlos thought to ask him, but... “Can you give me a couple minutes to take my makeup off?” </p><p>“There’s no time, the game is starting, like, now. I ran all the way back here to get you.” Carlos gives his best puppy eyes. “Please, Reggie.”</p><p>Reggie cracks. No one can resist Carlos. “Fine, show me the way.” </p><p>Carlos grins and grabs Reggie’s hand, pulling him through the streets of their neighborhood until they reach a park with an old, neglected baseball diamond. Carlos’s teammates are hovering anxiously around the dugout while the other team of neighborhood kids warms up. Carlos tugs Reggie into the dugout, and his teammates eyes’ flood with relief. </p><p>“This is my brother Reggie,” Carlos says, beaming with pride.</p><p>One of the boys—Manuel, if Reggie remembers correctly—eyes Reggie skeptically. Reggie shoves his hands into his pockets and braces himself for a comment about his appearance. </p><p>Instead, Manuel asks, “You play?” </p><p>Reggie blinks, then relaxes a bit. “It’s been a while, but I was on my JV team.” He doesn’t mention it was a softball team. “I come to all your games, too, so I still know how the game works.”</p><p>Manuel nods. “Do you have a glove?” </p><p>“Aw man,” Carlos says, “I forgot to grab the spare one for him.” </p><p>Manuel reaches into his bag and pulls out a glove. “You can play right field.” </p><p>He tosses the glove to Reggie, and Reggie is forced to remove his hands from his pockets to catch it. He slips it on as quickly as possible and punches his other hand into, trying to pass the gesture off as breaking the glove in. </p><p>“Game on,” Reggie grins. </p><p>The boys run out to their positions on the field. Reggie relaxes once he reaches right field, figuring that he’s too far away from anyone else for his makeup to be noticed. </p><p>He’s a little rusty after 28 years of not playing, but after a few dropped balls, he’s back in the swing of things. Muscle memory really is a miracle. After a rough first inning, their team turns it around. Reggie is their secret weapon, his long legs flying around right field catching out after out. They crush their opponents 10-3, and when Reggie jogs back into the dugout after the game, he’s greeted with cheers. </p><p>“Great job, dude,” one of the kids—Sam, he thinks— punches Reggie on the arm. </p><p>“Carlos, your brother is awesome,” Manuel says. He turns to Reggie. “Do you wanna come again next week? Our right fielder is still gonna be on vacation.”</p><p>Reggie looks to Carlos for approval, and the little brother nods enthusiastically. </p><p>“Alright,” Reggie says, “as long as we don’t have a gig, I’m in.” </p><p>The teams cheers and Carlos wraps his arms around Reggie’s waist in a hug. Without thinking, Reggie pulls his hand from his pocket to ruffle Carlos’s hair. </p><p>“Dude, nice nails,” Sam says, and Reggie freezes. There doesn’t seem to be any malice in Sam’s voice, but Reggie doesn’t really trust his own ability to read social cues. </p><p>“Um, our sister painted them,” he says cautiously. If Sam has an issue with it, maybe he can pass it off as something he let her do against his liking.</p><p>“Can she do mine?” Sam asks, which is <i>not</i> the response Reggie was anticipating. </p><p>“Mine too?” Manuel asks, and suddenly all the boys are looking at Reggie eagerly, voicing their desire as well. </p><p>“Oh,” Reggie says. “Well, I guess we’d have to ask her? But probably?” </p><p>“Yeah, if she’s not too busy making kissy faces at her boyfriend,” Carlos says, pretending to gag. “We can go back to our place for lunch, though, and see if she’s there.” </p><p>As Carlos and Reggie lead the team back to the house, Reggie leans over to Carlos and whispers, “Should we maybe text Julie and warn her?” </p><p>“Nah, I wanna see the surprise on her face when we tell her she has eight sets of nails to paint.”</p><p>“She’s gonna kill us,” Reggie says. “Well, you. Not much she can do about me.”</p><p>“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”</p><p>They reach the studio a few minutes later, where they find Julie and Alex watching TV while Luke works on lyrics. Reggie pokes his head in through the door. </p><p>“Hey Julie,” he says. “You know how much you love painting nails, and how you would do anything for me and Carlos?” </p><p>Julie raises an eyebrow at him. “What do you want?” </p><p>Reggie pushes the door father open, revealing the eight baseball players behind him. Julie frowns, then realizes what he’s asking and sighs. </p><p>“Go get my polish from upstairs.”</p><p>Reggie nods and starts to leave, but she calls after him, “But you’re helping! If I have to suffer so do you!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m officially taking requests now, either here or on my tumblr @wr0temyway0ut. I seem to be the biggest supplier of trans!Phantom content and I wanna keep doing that but I’m out of ideas at the moment so let me hear yours. (Requests don’t have to be trans-related but they’re gonna be trans in it no matter what.)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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